Lok Sabha elections 2024: Deswali belt holds key in Haryana's multi-corner contest

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Haryana is key for parties in what is going to be a multi-corner contest in the Lok Sabha elections. Traditionally a stronghold of the Congress, the state's ruling BJP has been making efforts over the years to weaken the grand old party's grip in the Jat-dominated region that comprises the Rohtak and the Sonipat Lok Sabha constituencies.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won seven Lok Sabha seats it had contested, losing only in Rohtak. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) had won two seats while the Congress won from Rohtak.
After failing to break the Congress' grip on Rohtak at that time, the BJP stepped up its activities in the region in a bid to weaken the Hooda family stronghold and the Congress.

The BJP's state headquarters is also based in Rohtak.
In the 2019 general elections, the BJP swept Haryana, winning all 10 seats and smashing what were considered as «bastions» of prominent political families.
The saffron party secured victory in Rohtak — the Hooda family citadel where incumbent Deepender Singh Hooda suffered defeat. The BJP also defeated veteran leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who had entered the fray from Sonipat.
Having suffered setbacks in the 2019 elections, the Congress will look to give a tough fight to the BJP this time. The grand old party has a seat-sharing arrangement with the AAP, under which the Arvind Kejriwal-led party will contest from the Kurukshetra constituency.
«Both parties will fight jointly and strongly,» Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said on the tie-up.
Anothe